Value Creation Leads to Growth

In a recent blog post by sales expert Anthony Iannarino, he told a story about a struggling restaurant whose owner, in an attempt to increase profitability, switched to a less expensive meat supplier. The problem? The meat was of poor quality, business continued to decline, and cutting costs didn’t address the real issue—the owner “was creating too little value.”

The restaurant owner’s fatal mistake was failing to ask himself why his customers weren’t returning and what they really wanted. When was the last time you asked:

(1) “Why should a prospect choose to engage with us over our competitors?”

If you believe in your value and your process, don’t narrow the conversation to focus only on price. You’re only doing yourself a disservice and playing into the prospect’s belief that insurance is a commodity, and that all agents are the same.

(2) “What do my clients really want?”

It’s important to consider not only how you can demonstrate past performance to them, but most importantly, how you can prepare them for future opportunities based on their vision for their business. Continually assess where you can help them—think sustainability, more effective use of premium dollars, better outcomes and reduced risks.

Its’ not easy to stick to your process, have tough conversations with prospects, improve sales outcomes or gain the capabilities to understand issues and identify opportunities for clients. But, these things are what differentiate you. Don’t make the same mistake the restaurant owner did by failing to recognize that value creation is what leads to growth.